


Like birds of a feather

by gemini_in_tauro



Category: Pandora Hearts
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Modern AU, Somewhat inspired by Parent Trap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-03
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-10 09:40:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27848694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gemini_in_tauro/pseuds/gemini_in_tauro
Summary: When Alyss meets her sister, Alice, she thinks that maybe having a sibling is rather nice. She could even get used to it.(Written for the Pandora Hearts Reverse Bang.)
Relationships: Alice & Alyss | Intention of the Abyss, Past Jack Vessalius/Lacie Baskerville
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	Like birds of a feather

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Pandora Hearts Reverse Bang event on twitter! Inspired by [this](https://twitter.com/surrealsunset/status/1334265353287954434) beautiful artwork, by Surrealsunsets.
> 
> ~~As a side note, it's harder to write fluff than I thought it was.~~

“Come, Alyss. This is your sister, Alice.”

Her father helped her step out of the car. Her ashen-blond hair cascading through her back and fluttering about behind her. She took the hand he had offered her, a hand gripping one of her suitcases and the other holding tightly her father’s.

“Hello.” She muttered softly, not knowing what else should be said in such a situation.

Her eyes followed slowly the path that led to the entrance. There, the mother she only met before on photographs, awaited her, a small smile directed at her. Holding her mother’s hand, a carbon-copy of Alyss (sans the ashen-blond hair, mind you) was standing beside her with unhidden curiosity.

“Oh,” father had forgotten to mention they weren’t just sisters. She had a mind to ask him right there, right _now_ why he had skipped that particular part of their heritage, but before she could even begin to formulate the question, Alice spoke.

“You’re just like me!” And somehow, she had managed to interweave curiosity, accusation, and surprise in a single phrase.

It was bound to be interesting, this ‘you have a sister I didn’t speak about you for your whole life’ thing.

* * *

Alice, as it turned out to be, was like her in many ways, but also different in others.

She had a similar fashion style, preferring a victorian style with lots of rose-themed embroideries. Although, unlike her, she preferred darker colors (it suited her, too. Made her violet eyes shine a tad bit darker) and fewer laces than Alyss herself.

“This side of the room is yours to decorate, darling,” mother said as soon as father had helped her with the suitcases that were left in the car. “Alice, why don’t you try helping your sister with her things? Uncle Os promised he would come and prepare dinner.”

Apparently, those words had been sufficient coaxing from her mother because Alice was giddy at the mention of Uncle Os’ food. Fortunately for Alyss, Alice was willing to speak and ask lots of questions without any trepidation, which was perfect to counter her out-of-place feeling.

(She knew it would disappear soon, she was just timid.)

“What’s your favorite color?”

“Salmon, although sometimes peach is a color I favor.”

“Favorite food?”

“Ravioles and salad.”

“And what about music?”

“Indie pop, and electro j-pop.”

“How was the school in Nosambria?”

“I attended Lutwidge for a couple of years. You’ll like it there, I think.”

Alice didn’t only ask questions. She spoke a lot, too. She told her of her two best friends—a boy with golden hair and green eyes named Oz, and a somewhat apathetic raven-haired called Gilbert.

“Oz mostly goes with me whenever I want to go to taste food from a new restaurant. Gilbert is well-meaning most of the time but… I mean, most of the time that seaweed he has for hair dulls his personality, but he prepares some of the best steaks I’ve ever tasted—it’s second only to Uncle Oswald’s, after all.”

And it sounded high praise indeed if the look in her eyes when mother mentioned they were getting to taste Uncle Osward’s cooking was something to prove.

“He also gives some of the best pats you can ever get! His hand is so big and cool, it makes you feel protected! You definitely have to meet them!”

She spoke of those two boys like she had known them her whole life—and maybe she had if the stories she spoke about when they were children were to be believed. It almost made Alyss’ heart feel nostalgic, as though she had known them her whole life too, and hadn’t seen them in a while.

Alyss took this first interaction in a good way. Her sister was rash and loud-spoken, but so far, she looked loyal and kind in her own way.

A loud meow erupted from her bag, and she almost cursed herself for forgetting.

Alice’s eyes opened. “Do you have a cat?”

Alyss shook her head. “Unfortunately, they don’t allow pets at Lutwidge,” that much was true. When she had asked her father for a pet as a reward for her good grades, he had told her that they weren’t allowed. Instead, “but I have a Tamagotchi.”

She took the small console from an inside pocket and unblocked it.

The screen showed Cheshire, a small chat that she had recently acquired, who was still meowing rather loudly.

“How cute!”

Alyss, deciding they had done enough with the room as it was, sat in her own bed. “Do you want to feed it?”

Her sister beamed with child-like curiosity.

* * *

“Uncle Oswald!”

Uncle Oswald didn’t even seem fazed when Alice sprung and hugged him as though her life depended on it. He even hugged her back. Alyss, feeling somewhat like an outsider, smiled shyly at the man that had emerged from the kitchen and edged closer with mild trepidation.

“Hey,” the man bowed. The chick’s apron he was wearing looked funny plastered against his taciturn figure. Now that she was closer, Alyss could see he had that debonaire air all aristocratic men from the victorian era had worn.

“Uncle, did you prepare honey garlic steak?” The elder gave her a look, and it probably meant to be a yes, because Alice hugged him even tighter. “You’re the best uncle in the world!”

“I’m the only uncle you have,” he answered, though it didn’t seem to be said unkindly. Merely… stating a fact.

Once dinner was ready, Alyss had to admit her sister was right. Uncle Oswald _did_ cook excellent food. There was a small variety of dishes that were probably meant for her to taste, in case she wasn’t overly fond of any of them. Alice had, as she had expected, taken the whole bowl of honey garlic steak for herself, offering her a couple of bites before serving into his place.

“And how has your business been, Jack?” asked uncle Oswald in a neutral tone. Father, who had been sipping from his cup of wine, shrugged and offered him a languid smile. Although it looked almost cold and impersonal the inquiry, father had apparently taken it lightheartedly.

Well, he once mentioned having a friend that was "very cold on the outside, but a softie on the inside". Perhaps he had spoken about uncle Oswald?

“Clocks have been high in demand as of late. People seem to enjoy them, especially watches like the one we did for Lacie. Lately, there have been people who like portraying victorian-era characters.” He shrugged and they didn’t speak more about the topic, focusing instead on how the twins were feeling about meeting for the first time.

“It’s been nice so far,” and Alyss didn’t lie. She had had friends in Lutwidge, but no one had been as outgoing as Alice, or as welcoming or as sincere as her. Sure, they were classmates, they shared dorm rooms and classes, but those friendships had taken years to build.

She had thought it would take her a while to get used to Alice, too.

When her father first brought up the topic about her having a sister that lived with her mother (who wasn’t, apparently, overseas as he had suggested, only a couple of regions away) and suggesting that Alyss could spend her vacations with them and so, she had felt shocked. Why tell her when she was sixteen, and not before?

But surprisingly, once the shock wore off, the idea of having a sister was thrilling. Maybe it was her own brain that looked at it through a very positive lens, since she had grown believing she was an only child and… well, before attending Lutwidge it was kind of lonely.

Alice stopped eating the steak and nodded. “She has a Tamagotchi with a cat named Chesire!”

* * *

The next day, as per Jack's suggestion, both sisters were enjoying an outing at an amusement park. Alice had even invited her best friends, and watching them interact was rather amusing.

Gilbert looked like the apathetic man she had described at first glance. But he was easily embarrassed, too. Especially whenever Alice described how well he cooked and how nobody could compare to his “god hand”. Or when random women flirted with him.

Oz had been chivalrous when they greeted each other. He had taken her hand and kissed it while saying what a fair maiden she was. It had taken a giggle out of her, and an eye-roll out of her sister. Once that had passed, he spent the whole time asking Alice which attractions they would ride, and which they wouldn’t.

Since they couldn’t decide on activities that they all wanted to try, they decided to get into teams: those that wanted to ride an attraction and those that didn’t. Alice and Oz, surprisingly enough, preferred the attractions such as the rollercoaster, bumper cars, and tossing coins. Alyss enjoyed the haunted house, the Ferris Wheel, and the water ride. Gilbert preferred the attractions with dark rides, and when it was getting dark, they approached pistol shooting boot, where he won various prizes.

“How are you so good at shooting?” asked Alyss, cradling the white rabbit he had won her.

“Dad likes hunting,” he answered, shrugging. Oz snickered at that, looking intently at the teddy bear that Gilbert got him.

“Sure, it has nothing to do with the fact that you were the president of the shooting club back in high school,” Alice nodded, sagely, holding close her black rabbit and laughing with Oz. Gilbert, predictably, blushed at their statement and blurted something that sounded close to an excuse.

Alyss felt welcomed.

* * *

Having a sister was every bit that Alyss thought it would be, just with the added bonus of also passing time with mom.

She spent most of her time trying to finish some pending issues in her work, but just a couple of days after Alyss had arrived she had stayed home and spent the day doing several activities with them.

“Mom’s a very good, singer, too!” said Alice, when Lacie asked them what they wanted to do next. “Can you sing us your song?”

Feeling curious about how mom’s “song” would be like, Alyss seconded her sister and asked her mother to sing. Lacie looked at them, amused. She had an expression that looked almost like she wanted to disagree, but the mischievous glint in her eyes (that was so much like Alice’s, Alyss couldn’t help but notice) said her true intentions.

Once she began to sing, Alyss felt entrapped by the song. The lyrics weren’t particularly special, but she had heard it before.

“Isn’t that the song father used in one of his first watches?” Lacie eyed her curiously. Alyss felt embarrassed. “I mean, father showed me some of his earlier works. It was a watch that played music. He hasn’t made many of these, since people prefer having music boxes than musical watches, but…” Lacie still looked at her expectantly, but took mercy on her and nodded.

“It is. My brother composed the song when we were teenagers. It was originally a school project, but he didn’t finish it in time and instead tried another piece he had previously owned. I added the lyrics, and your father created that beautiful watch.”

They spoke no more of the issue, although Alyss understood if mother didn’t want to.

(“Lacie is a free spirit,” had told her her father when she asked why mother and he weren’t together. He hadn’t said it in a sad tone, nor a longing one. Rather, he looked fond as he said those words. “And I wasn’t expecting to tie her forever.”)

When it was almost dark, mother said she was retiring to her own bedroom, and left them both in the living room, exchanging stories and planning activities for the summer.

“There are so many castles in Sablier, you’ll surely love them!”

Alyss smiled fondly as her sister spoke some more.

Maybe she could convince her father to let her live here after the summer break ended, or convince Alice to attend school with her.

For now, the vacations sounded good enough.

**Author's Note:**

> Deleted scene:
> 
>   
> _It had been Alice's idea to invite Gilbert and Oz to prepare something to cook. Alyss had agreed, especially because Alice had gushed incessantly of how good "seaweed-head"s cooking was (and well, Alyss was a very curious person)._  
>    
> _It had been going rather smoothly, up until the point where Cheshire meowed incessantly on her bag. Alice gushed at the sound, and Oz looked confused a the sisters before checking on his other friend._
> 
> _...Who was, at present time, gripping the cutting knife with force and trembling slightly._
> 
> _"Was that a cat?" Alice answered shoving him the Tamagochi. He looked about to faint—wheter because of the relief brought by knowing it was definitely not a cat, or because Cheshire had decided to meow before Gilbert could see it, Alyss wouldn't know._  
> 


End file.
